Lucky Rabbit

As soon as the front door opened, Pandy could hear the subdued murmur of many voices coming from the dining room. This room was usually only used for dinner, with breakfast, lunch, or tea taken in the conservatory or outside in the garden. Geraldine clasped Thaniel’s hand and pulled him along after her, with Miss Cupcakes running along behind and Pandy still clutched in Thaniel’s other arm.

As they approached, the butler, Dalton, opened the door wearing the closest thing to a smile Pandy had ever seen on his austere face. Geraldine tugged Thaniel the last few steps, then released his hand, leaving the boy standing in the doorway with at least two dozen strangers staring curiously at him.

“Surprise!” Geraldine said, and everyone else echoed her, with a few happy birthdays thrown in for good measure. Thaniel’s heart began to pound beneath Pandy’s paws, and the boy swallowed hard before he managed to paste a broad, if tremulous, smile on his face.

“Th-thank you, everyone,” he said, and several of the adults cooed over his pretty manners. Seeing that he was overwhelmed, Geraldine pulled him forward again, introducing him to the guests.

It turned out that most of them were actually friends of Clara and Lady Alice, since there weren’t many children of Geraldine and Thaniel’s age in the area. Apparently, many of the days Clara was closeted up with her friends had been spent planning the party, which quickly grew from a single cake and a few presents to an opportunity for much of the neighboring gentry to come to visit. The dining room was filled to capacity, and the table was piled high with sweets on one end and presents on the other.

Thaniel gamely allowed himself to be shown off, and many of the ladies remarked on how adorable he was, with his tumbled golden curls and big blue eyes. As if they couldn’t resist, they pinched his cheeks and offered him cookies and candies, while the few husbands who’d come stood off to the side, smiling indulgently as they talked about the current price of a bushel of potatoes or a bale of hay.

Once the adults were done cooing over Thaniel, it was time for Clara and her friends to descend like a flock of colorful birds. Their names and faces quickly blurred together in Pandy’s mind, since none of them had made it into Gacha Love, though she was fairly certain Clara’s letters to some of them were among the lore of the game. Pandy, however, was too busy finally seeing Clara close up to pay much attention to anyone else.

In the game, everything about the main character could be customized according to the player’s preference, but the default ‘Clara’ was the stereotypical blonde-haired, blue-eyed beauty. This Clara, however, was one often seen in promo videos. She had soft black curls, pink cheeks, and a rosebud mouth. That was hair style number seventeen and face number thirty-two, which Pandy knew because she often selected the combination herself. Clara’s eyes were the original blue, and Pandy was almost certain that her sweet, slightly husky voice was number six from character creation.

All in all, seeing this lovely girl standing before her was the closest Pandy had come to truly feeling like she was living in the world of Gacha Love since the moment she’d passed through the gate leading to the Reedsley estate. She found herself mesmerized by listening to that familiar voice and watching the thirteen-year-old version of the game’s heroine toss her glossy curls, and almost failed to notice that Thaniel was miserable.

It took Geraldine asking him if he really didn’t want any cake for Pandy to snap out of her reverie and look up at the boy. Thaniel was pale, his eyes slightly wild as he flinched back from yet another woman who’d just been reminded that he was an orphan and hastily assured him that his parents must be so proud as they ‘watched over him’.

This was too much. Thaniel had spent the last few years cooped up in a vast, empty house with only a few servants and a father who almost lived in his tower. Even Lian had only come home when he had to, and neither guests nor peddlers darkened the doors. As naturally sweet as Thaniel was, he had no idea how to deal with a crowd, much less a crowd of total strangers.

“I’m not hungry,” Thaniel murmured to Geraldine as he sank back toward the wall. He looked like he would break and run at any moment, and Pandy had no idea how to help him.

Fortunately, for all that Geraldine could be as oblivious as any other child, she was far from stupid, and quickly realized that something was wrong. She immediately tucked her hand beneath Thaniel’s arm and smiled brightly at the next eager mama to approach.

“Lord Nathaniel needs a breath of fresh air,” she said briskly. “Would you let Lady Alice know we’re going to step out onto the balcony, Mistress Bentley?”

The middle-aged woman’s face immediately softened. “He does look a bit peaked. Of course I’ll tell your mother. Do feel better, Lord Nathaniel. I’m quite excited to see you open your presents.”

Not even this could bring color back to Thaniel’s face, but Geraldine soon chivvied him over to a door Pandy and Thaniel had never used before. It opened onto a short hallway, with three closed doors leading away from it. Geraldine turned the doorknob of the middle door, and it opened onto a small balcony overlooking the garden. Pandy had seen the balcony from below, but until now had had no idea how to get to it.

“Are you all right, Thaniel?” Geraldine asked as soon as the two children were outside in the fresh air. Thaniel already looked better, with pink showing high on his cheeks, though he darted worried glances back at the house. He tried to cover his anxiety with a bright smile for Geraldine’s sake.

“I’m fine,” he assured his friend. “It’s just that I don’t know anybody. You told me their names, but I forgot them all already. I’m sorry, Geri.”

Geraldine threw her arms around him. “No, I’m sorry,” she said with deep sincerity. “I was just going to have a little party with my family, but then Mama heard that you hadn’t had a party in ages, and she started inviting her friends. And then Clara got involved and invited her friends as well. Before I knew it, half the county was coming. But they’ll have such lovely gifts, Thaniel! I always get dresses and books, and sometimes dolls from Grandmother, but never anything fun. But you don’t have anything, so I heard they’re going to give you-”

She broke off as she realized what she’d said, but it was too late. Thaniel’s eyes were huge, and he only managed to sniff back the tears once before they were pouring down his cheeks. Pandy quickly used her furry cheek to wipe them away, hoping she was helping as her Corruption Points began to rise.

+1 Corruption Points for Bathing in the Tears of the Innocent

+1 Corruption Points for Bathing in the Tears of the Innocent

“I just want Lian,” Thaniel cried as thick streams of tears soaked Pandy’s fur. The little boy’s arms tightened around her until she was once again grateful that she didn’t actually have to breathe, and she licked a few salty drops from his cheeks.

+2 Corruption Points for Drinking the Tears of the Innocent

Geraldine patted his back awkwardly. She was a year older than Thaniel, and a little taller, but not enough to wrap her arms around him properly. Plus, being a child herself, she was more used to receiving comfort than giving it, though she made a credible attempt.

“I’m not supposed to tell you,” Geraldine said, with more than a hint of tears in her own voice. “But Father says Lian may be away for as much as another week. By then it’ll almost be time for school to start, so he’ll probably go straight to Kestrel and visit you at Falconet once you’re there. I’m very sorry, Thaniel.”

Thaniel’s tears redoubled, as did Pandy’s influx of Corruption Points, as the boy wailed, “I…just want…my…brother!”

That was all it took to break Geraldine’s heroic effort at self-control, and the little girl melted down as well, covering Pandy in fresh tears and squashing her in between the bodies of the two children. Apparently Geraldine also counted as Innocent, because the number of Corruption Points Pandy was gaining suddenly increased to a near blur of words and numbers that made her feel slightly nauseated. She swallowed hard and looked away from the flickering flow, which is how she happened to notice Miss Cupcakes.

The kitten hadn’t been able to stay near Geraldine with all of the large, oblivious feet in the dining room. That hadn’t prevented her from attempting to do so, however, so Pandy had caught glimpses of her skulking around the edges of the room, yellow eyes fixed on her mistress. When they left the room, the cat had scampered after them, and managed to slip through the door onto the balcony before Geraldine shut it behind them.

Now, however, Miss Cupcakes had finally been distracted by the sight of a particularly large, plump pigeon who had built a nest on the sloping roof above them. The pigeon sat there, cooing contentedly to itself right up until the two children began to cry in earnest, and then it flapped its wings unhappily, half-rising from the nest, revealing two bald, pink babies nestled beneath it.

This movement had instantly caught Miss Cupcakes’ gaze, and now the kitten jumped from the edge of a planter and up onto the high railing that encircled the balcony. The railing was narrow and made of what looked like cast iron, and the kitten swayed ominously before regaining her footing, but she didn’t even seem to notice. She was making little ‘mrrup’ noises as she stalked forward, yellow eyes intent.

The house was built of a mixture of dark, heavy timbers and white-painted wattle and daub, looking very much like Tudor-style homes Pandy had seen in the suburbs where she’d lived with a few of her foster families. The kitten’s needle-sharp claws sank into the side of the house with relative ease, and Miss Cupcakes launched herself at the pigeon with a triumphant yowl.

This captured the attention of the two children, whose tears were already beginning to slacken. For the most part, they were good-natured and not prone to sadness, so they didn’t linger in their misery. They stared with dropped jaws and red-rimmed eyes as Miss Cupcakes clawed at the pigeon who, in turn, pecked the kitten sharply around the head until she fell backward with a despondent cry.

Unfortunately, in order to reach the nest, Miss Cupcakes had angled away from the balcony, and there was nothing beneath her except twenty feet of open air. This might not have seemed like much, especially for a cat, who theoretically should land on her feet – that was real, wasn’t it? – but Pandy couldn’t help but feel like this was a recipe for disaster.

Geraldine cried out in horror as she watched her precious pet tumble through the air, but Thaniel was already moving. He had spent many long days running through meadows and climbing trees, and his little body was strong and agile. He was halfway up the railing before Pandy realized what he intended to do, and what she would have to do in turn.

There was no way to know if this was another attempt by the god’s magic to kill Thaniel, but there was every possibility it would succeed anyway. Again, while twenty feet might not seem far, a sort of patio made of colored cobblestones had been built directly below, with a few tables and chairs set on it to provide a place for people to sit on pleasant days. If Thaniel landed badly, or fell across some of the furniture, he might well be killed, without even a chance for Pandy to use Minor Heal to save him.

she thought, bracing her back feet against Thaniel’s chest as she twisted in place. He’d apparently forgotten he was carrying her, though he would have remembered soon enough, when he needed both hands free to try to catch Miss Cupcakes, but this gave Pandy a simple method to stop him in his tracks.

As she’d hoped, in spite of the fact that she weighed even less than the kitten, the force of her now-level-fifteen Hop pushed Thaniel backwards even as it propelled her forward. Pandy wished she could produce more than a high-pitched squeal as she flew through the air, up, over the railing, and straight toward the falling Miss Cupcakes.

Hop successful. 1.82% experience gained towards next level.

Pandy hadn’t really intended to save the cat, though of course she would have if she could. It was just that calculating the exact angle needed to make sure rabbit and feline met in midair required far more computational power than Pandy had available in the split second she’d had to plan. Nonetheless, here she was, and in her desperation, the kitten had what would have been a completely predictable reaction if Pandy had thought about it.

Yowling in fear and fury, every one of Miss Cupcakes’ eighteen claws latched onto the only solid object within reach: Pandy. Pain exploded through Pandy’s abused body, and her own scream rose to a pitch that unsettled even her. Worse, she and the terrified feline were still falling at what seemed simultaneously the speed of sound, and slower than a single fluffy flake of snow on a windless winter day.

If this was truly Gacha Love, and Pandy was Clara, what would she do? First, it would depend on what branches of magic she had available to her. Clara herself had Light magic, but she gained several items that gave her power over the other elements, depending on which romance path she chose, and whether she was aiming for the scholarly, noble, artistic, or warrior’s ending.

None of which helped her in the slightest when she was hurtling toward the earth with eighteen not-so-tiny daggers viciously shredding her body. As she spun, she caught a glimpse of Thaniel’s ashen face peering down over the railing, with a flash of Geraldine behind, pulling him backwards. At least he was safe, so she had succeeded in something. And who knew? Maybe if Pandy herself died again, Thaniel would be truly safe, since this world would no longer need to be ‘adjusted’ to suit the story for Pandy.

And then Pandy knew exactly what she would do if she was Clara. In Kaden’s storyline, there was an Air dungeon that unlocked just after the characters returned from winter break. As a powerful Air mage, Kaden went to represent the royal family in case the exploration team found anything. If Kaden had a high enough Affection stat, he would invite Clara along. Of course, they stumbled into a hidden level, where, with Clara’s help, Kaden tamed a Stormheart elemental that had gone wild after the death of its master. As thanks, Kaden gave Clara an enchanted amulet containing a high-level spell.

Pandy shouted, desperately picturing the brilliant white wings that sprouted from Clara’s back when she used the spell. Not surprisingly, nothing happened, until she added,

Casting of Wings of Glory successful. 100% experience gained towards next level.

Wings of Glory is now level 1.

Her back began to burn, then fiery pain drove through her as her skin split, and something thrust out through the gory opening. Pandy craned her head around, staring aghast at the white wings that now sprouted from her back. Far from the angelic, feathered wings that lifted Clara into the sky, these were leathery, looking like they’d been severed from an albino bat. Still, as they snapped out, Pandy and her unwilling passenger began to glide rather than plummet, spiraling down to land awkwardly but intact – for Miss Cupcakes, at least – in a hydrangea bush.